KEY ISSUES

• What is environmental diplomacy?

• How can the growth of international environmental co-operation be explained?

• What are the obstacles to international environmental co-operation?

• Are environmental treaties effective?

• Has international environmental co-operation contributed to sustainable development?

International environmental problems pose major challenges to the achievement of sustainable development. The distinguishing feature of an international environmental problem is that it does not respect national boundaries. Some transboundary issues, such as the conservation of endangered wildlife, natural habitats and marine life, have been around for many years. Other problems which were once predominantly regional or local in cause and effect, such as deforestation, desertification and water scarcity, now have international dimensions. A ‘new’ range of issues, including climate change, ozone depletion and biodiversity loss, are truly global in that they affect everyone. All states contribute to problems of the global commons and all suffer the consequences, although the extent to which each country is culpable for causing a particular problem and vulnerable to its effects varies enormously. Thus industrialised countries have made the largest contribution to climate change, while low-lying countries, such as Bangladesh and Egypt, face the greatest risk from rising sea-levels caused by global warming.

International environmental problems require international solutions; they cannot be solved by nation states acting alone. Only if individual nation states cooperate with each other can environmental problems be resolved. As governments have grown increasingly aware of their mutual vulnerability, environmental issues have become firmly established on the international policy agenda.